My Tennis Academia: Power Tour
by Robin the Ylissian Grandmaster
Summary: Izuku Midoriya goes to U.A. Tennis Academy, the most prestigious Academy in Japan for the sport, in order to become the greatest tennis player ever just like his idol/mentor Toshinori Yagi. AU where tennis has become the most popular sport. Crossover with Mario Tennis: Power Tour. No quirks. MinaDeku. Rated M for harsh language and sexual themes. Open character submission.
1. Chapter 1: Partners and Challenges

Chapter one

"Damn, you're late, Midoriya," Mina cursed her partner that had yet to appear in the front courtyard of the dorms. She shouldn't be nagging on the boy though, he had played so hard in the welcome work out yesterday that he passed out at the end and a couple boys had to drag him up to his dorm and toss him into bed. He had played harder than anyone else in the new Junior class, including Mina, and had managed to impress a few of the Senior and Varsity players that were running the U.A. Tennis Academy Welcome Work Out. She was actually glad that she had picked the loner out of the crowd to be her doubles partner when everyone arrived at the school yesterday. However, because he passed out when he did, they missed out on participating in any of the initial ranking matches and were thus placed as unranked.

Mina had stuck a note under his door letting him know to meet her in front of the dorms at eight o'clock in the morning, go to breakfast, do some training together at the training courts, and maybe play a few practice matches against other unranked players. But now it was eight thirty and the boy had yet to show his face. At this rate, the cafeteria was going to be packed by the time they got there and all the good food would be eaten.

Mina would not consider herself to be the weirdest girl in the world, and definitely not the weirdest in school full of zealous tennis advocates, but she did have her unique quirks. She was attractive and pretty damned cute, not that would admit to such a description, but the amount of love confessions that she had received back in Secondary School made it pretty obvious. She had fair skin that some would say looked a little pink if they looked at it, but it was probably just a reflection off her unruly, short pink hair. Her pink sports tank top and black skirt fit perfectly for a tennis player with her broad build, good bust, and average height; not too tight to suffocate her, not too loose to be revealing, not too long to prevent her from running on the court, and not too short as too be skimpy.

"Since you can't bother to meet me then I'll come an' drag your ass out of bed!" Mina fumed as she stormed back into the dorm building. Up three flights of stairs and down two hallways, she found herself standing in front of the socially awkward boy's door. "You awake in there, Midoriya?" she raised her voice while knocking. He didn't look like the kind of boy that would sleep in super late, granted he hand spent a lot of energy yesterday and had knocked his noggin when he collapsed. She really hoped he wasn't dead. "If you don't answer me in the next fifteen seconds, I'm gonna come in and make ya answer!"

She waited several seconds like she promised, then took the door knob and opened the door up (she thanked the heavens that it was unlocked) to reveal a dark dorm room. Turning the light on, she found a neat and orderly room that was decked out with tons of pro tennis memorabilia, particularly focused on Toshinori Yagi, the greatest tennis player in the world. "Damn, Midoriya, you really are a fanboy," she commented as she took in all the sights. The only things that stood out of order were Izuku's work out clothes from yesterday that were strewn everywhere and the chiselled form of Izuku Midoriya situated in a heap on his bed wearing only his boxers, which were ironically patterned with tennis rackets, and still asleep.

The pink athlete felt her heart leap, as well as another twinge within her, at the sight of the toned, muscular form of her partner. He was obviously a nerd, so it was surprising that he would be this fit, but it did explain how he was able to work as hard and as long as he did yesterday. They were both eighteen, as were most first year students at U.A., but Izuku seemed to be on a whole different level with his strength. While she was a speed and technique player, she was certain that the boy was a power and defence player. They matched perfectly for a doubles team, each of them picking up where the other lacked.

"They literally stripped him and tossed him into bed," she scoffed, "Never trust boys with a task like this. I'll be a good friend and clean up this mess for you before I rudely awaken you from your beauty sleep." She swiftly found and picked up all the misplaced articles of clothing scattered about the room and placed them in the boy's dirty laundry hamper, then rearranged his running shoes and comfy shoes neatly by the door. "Alright, that should do it," she surveyed her work with accomplishment. "Now to wake his sleepy ass up."

 _~Power Tour~_

Izuku was having a dream, and a very vivid one at that. He was dreaming about being a hero in training at a school for heroes with a super power that he had inherited from the world's greatest hero that oddly looked like his tennis teacher, Toshinori Yagi the world's greatest tennis player. There was also this pink girl that could generate and use acid as a power that was his partner throughout the dream. The greatest hero in this dream, named All Might, not only gave his power to Izuku but also trained him into peak physical condition and taught him how to be a pro hero. It was exactly like how Toshinori found Izuku, a pitiful tennis player despite how popular the sport was worldwide, in his last year of secondary school, offered to teach the boy how to play the sport properly, and trained him relentlessly for the whole year until the boy was in peak physical condition and an adept player.

It was a weirdly vivid dream. But it had its good parts, like his growing relationship with the beautiful pink heroine. Before it could get any better though, he was suddenly ripped out of the dream and back into reality by a girl's yelling voice.

"GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT OF BED BEFORE I DRAG YOU DOWN TO THE LAKE AND TOSS YOU IN FOR A SWIM!" raged some wild beast that decided to interrupt his dream right before he could kiss the pink heroine, his first kiss ever.

He nearly jumped three feet into the air at the wake up and landed down hard on the bed. With groggy eyes, he peaked at his aggressor only to find a girl that looked like the pink heroine, except her skin was only slightly tinged pink, she didn't have horns, and she didn't have black sclera, but she was very cute, had golden irises, and her hair was pink. This was getting weird, was this a dream within a dream or was he starting to see things.

"Alright, sleepy head, let's check your brain to see if it's still working. Do you remember who you are?" the girl asked, placing her hands on her hips. Damn, she looked amazing in her tennis outfit, but who was she?

He nodded. Check, Izuku Midoriya, socially awkward eighteen-year-old that didn't learn to play tennis properly until last year and was too dumbstruck by how beautiful this girl was to come up with a verbal reply.

"Okay, good! Now, do you remember who I am?" she inquired.

He really had no idea, "Er… Ah… Are you the dorm manager's daughter?" he asked innocently.

She facepalmed with a great sigh at his reply, "No, dumbass, I'm your doubles partner, Mina Ashido. We signed up to be partners at the Welcome Work Out yesterday. You really hit your noggin when you passed out."

The memories from yesterday were starting to return. First, there was the move into the dorms, the campus was flooded with students and parents as the Junior and Senior classes moved into the main dorms and the Varsity and Pro classes were moving into their separate dorms (The Pro class had already graduated from U.A. but remained in order to train for World Championships, the Olympics, and other national and international tournaments). Then there was the meet and greet where they met the coaches and other staff members. The rookie coaches were then tasked with taking the first-year students and touring the campus, showing them the cafeteria, training grounds, Junior courts, Senior courts, Varsity stadium, track field, work out gyms, faculty building, headmaster's office, school council room, and infirmary. After lunch, there was the Welcome Work Out. Izuku's former friend, Bakugo, scared off anyone that would have wanted to be his partner by harassing him for still trying to play tennis. But one person ignored all that Bakugo had said about him, she approached him as everyone else started to pair off and asked to be his partner.

It had to be a serious offer. While partnerships could be broken off if something bad happened between the two involved, they were permanent choices they would have to stick to for the next three years at U.A., learning, training, and bonding as a team. Ninety percent of the doubles partnerships formed at the academy went on to become professional teams and several academy-based teams had gone on to win in the Olympics because of how well they worked together. It shocked Izuku that a girl, let alone a cute one at that, would ask to be _his_ partner because, though it's only correlation, there have been several accounts of male-female partnerships turning into romances. And who would want that with Izuku? He was just a quirky teenage boy that dreamed to big about being the greatest tennis player ever like his idol and mentor, Toshinori Yagi.

"Judging by the expression on your face, I would guess that it's all coming back now. Welcome back to the world of the non-amnesiacs," Mina joked. Izuku then realised that he was sitting in front of her in only his boxers. Panicking, he rushed frantically to find something to cover himself. "Don't worry too much, I'll let you get dressed, Deku-kun," she giggled at his rush, "That is what your 'friend' Bakugo called you, right? It seems fitting after seeing how hard you worked yesterday. It feels like you're saying 'I can do it.' Can I call you 'Deku?'"

"Deku is fine!" He babbled through a blush that enveloped his whole face.

"Hehehe, alright, Deku," she giggled again. She just knew that they were going to do well as a team. "Get yourself dressed and meet me in the courtyard out front!" and she left with a wink that only caused the boy to blush even darker.

~Power Tour~

"Where is everyone?" Izuku asked aloud after taking a good look at the first floor of the cafeteria. He had noticed something was up when he couldn't find anyone on the path there after joining up with Mina, but now his suspicions were confirmed. The cafeteria was a cosy location despite being meant to fit hundreds of students, boasting booths, soothing lighting, and a buffet line for service with friendly staff.

"We were late in getting out, there should be hundreds of people here," Mina added in agreement. What could happen that would distract the student population from breakfast?

Their questions drew the attention of the cafeteria manager, a brunette woman in a cook's outfit, "There's been a challenge, apparently. A bunch of people in masks came to the school yesterday and challenged the senior coaches, including Alex!" she called from behind the buffet line.

"Yeah," joined a portly man, "They defeated all the coaches yesterday and they were planning to face Alex this morning. Everyone rushed off to the Varsity stadium when they heard the news."

"They're facing Alex? He's the best tennis player the school has produced in the last decade! He won the Island Open four times in a row and won two gold medals at the Olympics last year! What kind of idiot would challenge him to a match of tennis?" she confronted the two cafeteria staff members.

"We don't know, they were all wearing masks," the woman shrugged, "But the match started over an hour ago so it should be almost over."

"Damn, the Varsity stadium is on the other side of the river," Mina cursed. "But we can make it if we run as fast as possible! Come on, Deku! We have a beat down to watch!"

"But breakfast?" Izuku pleaded, but they fell on deaf ears as his partner grabbed him by the hand and pulled him back out the front door in a sprint that could have landed them in the Olympics.

They ran down the paved path past the Senior training grounds and its orange clay courts, but there was no one there getting some early training. They took a sharp right turn before they could reach the Junior courts and the general training grounds towards the only bridge on campus that spanned the massive river dividing the campus that fed into the lake. The first-year's pamphlet said that the lake was open to the students for canoeing, swimming and fishing on weekends and the Midsummer Festival would have aquatic events there, but most of the time students were limited to the shoreline for relaxation, picnics and dates. Not that Izuku ever thought about using the lake for that purpose.

They had just crossed the bridge and had nearly arrived at another intersection when a group of voices stopped them in their tracks before they could even see who it was. "I can't believe it!" one voice called out, obviously coming in their direction. Without hesitation, Mina pulled him behind a bush before they could be spotted. _This is wrong, she wants to eavesdrop on them_ , he thought but what cam next changed his mind. "I can't believe that they actually beat Alex! Just who are they?" the same voice added with anger. Both Izuku and his partner peaked around the bush to see two general coaches, one male and one female, and a female secretary standing at the four-way intersection.

"I don't know, but they had the nerve to waltz right into the headmaster's office right after the match with Alex in tow like they were invited!" the female coach snarled in frustration.

"I brought some juice but Alex blocked the door and wouldn't let me see inside," the secretary said with a saddened tone.

""Very fishy!"" the two coaches answered in unison.

"Do you think those masked players came here just to beat Alex at Tennis?" the secretary spoke again. Mina turned to Izuku and nodded to show her agreement silently. It seemed pretty obvious that her guess was pretty accurate.

"Kevin and the others were all former rivals of Alex but they didn't recognise any of them at first," the male coach pondered aloud.

"So, they weren't from Union or Factory or any of the other academies at the Island Open?" the female coach inquired.

"If they are good enough to beat Alex, then why wouldn't they compete in the Island Opening?" the secretary added onto the pile of unanswered questions that the two hiding students had as well.

""Even fishier!"" the two coaches declared in unison again, this was getting weird.

"Who are they, really? And why aren't the senior coaches more concerned about this?" the secretary mounted more questions. Mina seemed to be getting upset with all the inquiries popping up without answers.

The coaches were stumped for a moment, then the male one seemed to have a lightbulb moment, "After the match, Kevin was upset that Alex was getting all friendly with them. Then Alex started talking to him…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, what ever he said to Kevin, he backed down right away immediately," the female coach continued, gazing off at the gym. "But what did he say?"

"I'm willing to bet money that he told Kevin who they were, and Kevin told Mark and Emily. Coach Shota Aizawa from the Pro class didn't seem surprised by their victory, either, so he must know as well," the male coach concluded with triumph.

"Then we should go ask them, I saw them go the gym to oversee the completion of the special construction project Alex started last term." The female coach joyfully jumped in the direction of the gym.

"The headmaster has some stuff for me to do, so don't skip any of the details when you tell me later," the secretary requested. The two coaches nodded before rushing off on the left path of the intersection towards the gym while the remaining girl headed back to the faculty building.

With the three speakers out of sight, the two students stepped out from behind the bush and into the intersection. "Damn, we missed the match. I don't know about you, but I want to find out who the masked players are that would come all the way out here just to beat Alex," Mina asserted

"I agree, but we'll only get caught if we try to listen in on them at the gym," Izuku countered. "We should go and find the headmaster to ask him." He normally did not like to pry into matters like this, but it seemed to important not to try and find out who beat the academy's best coach and player.

"Alrighty, Deku~" she flirted with a wink before cheerfully skipping off in the direction of the faculty building with her partner pacing her with a jog. The impressive building was straight ahead from the bridge and separated the campus from the main gate as well as it connected to the infirmary.

Once inside, they found the administrative staff hard at work with all the beginning of term paperwork that needed to be documented and filed away. None bothered to pay any attention to the two students that headed straight for the stairs to the second floor and the headmaster's office, but they stopped by the glass front door at the sight of their target standing by the front gate. Izuku silently pointed him out and led his partner out of the building.

Unsurprisingly, Headmaster Nezu, a short, stocky middle-aged man with white hair and a mysterious scar over his left eye, was accompanied by Coach Alex, an equally short man with black hair and wearing a backwards baseball cap. It surprised Izuku that such short people could be amazing tennis player that both had victories at various championships and tournaments under their belts. They were both standing at the gate, gazing out to the road as though they had just saw someone off. Mina's face turned to a frown beside her green-haired partner as she realised that the masked players were already gone, and Izuku could sympathise with her disappointment.

Headmaster Nezu was the first one to notice their presence when they stopped a few metres from the gate. "Ah, you must be Izuku Midoriya, a new friend of mine told me all about you, I look forward to seeing your performance in the future. And his partner, Mina Ashido, you were a little spitfire on the courts yesterday at the Welcome Work Out. I'm certain you two will do well together!"

""Thank you very much, headmaster,"" they both voiced with appreciation.

Alex, at hearing their names, finally turned around to face them, and he genuinely looked happy about their meeting. But his face turned to concern once he noticed Mina's expression, "What's wrong, Mina? You seem kind of down," the U.A. champion observed.

"More like 'let down' if you ask me," the headmaster corrected. The two students sweat dropped realising that their plan had been immediately discovered by the incredibly intelligent man.

"What do you mean?" the somewhat oblivious Alex queried.

"Well, it's obvious that they are here to find out who the masked players are too," the headmaster ousted the plan.

"Sorry guys, they already left," the champion turned back to the gate with a down expression on his own face. "I was so happy they came to visit me. I thought I'd never get to see them again, but they came back to see me. I feel like the happiest guy ever."

"I know how Alex feels," the headmaster nodded as he turned back to the gate. "Now that I've met them, I feel like I'm the second happiest guy ever."

Mina felt the anger welling up inside her, she usually never got angry but these two were upsetting her by skirting around the topic. "So tell us, please! Who are they?" she fumed at the two older men, her voice elevated to show her irritation.

They both seemed surprised by what she said and Izuku couldn't believe that she was yelling at staff members. "You mean that you did not recognise them?"

"We wouldn't have been able to even if we had seen them! Not with those damned masks!" she snapped back at them. "I find it hard to believe that they would be famous enough to recognise with masks on."

"Mina, calm down," Izuku tried to ease the tension, which seemed to work with softening her expression.

"You couldn't even tell by the way they played?" Alex asked. Now they were starting to annoy Izuku, not that he would ever act out on his irritation.

"No shit, did you not hear me? We didn't get to see them! Why do you think we're asking!? Just who are they?" Mina exploded again, causing everyone to jump a little out of shock.

"I'd love to tell you…" the headmaster started to diffuse the situation, "But that would not be right, not when you think about their position."

"Huh? Why not?" Mina asked, her anger suddenly gone.

"If they didn't care who knew who they were, then would they have even worn the masks in the first place?" the headmaster frowned. Both the students shook their heads and returned to calmer but slightly defeated expressions.

"They were worried that a panic would ensue if people found out who they were," Alex added, saddened by the fact he had to put down his students.

Mina looked downright depressed because of the covert scolding she had just received from the two. Izuku did not feel much better seeing his partner in such a state, and he wished he knew what to do to cheer her up after their defeat.

"It pains me to see those sad faces of yours, but I still cannot tell you who they are," the headmaster tried to console them, but Alex took the lead in solving the problem.

"I can let you guys in on a way where you can find out on your own! Will that cheer you up?" he smiled brightly.

Izuku already liked the plan, he actually preferred working hard to earn something on his own without handouts, and a nod from his partner told him that she agreed. "I think that will work for us, sir," he conformed, speaking for the first time in the conversation.

Alex smiled even brighter, "They want to face the best of us, and if you can make it to the Island Open Tournament and win first place in your first year then you will be one step closer, you will have already surpassed me if you do so. Step number two is to win first place in the Japanese-American Doubles Championship in two years. The next Olympics are in three years, if you both win gold in the tennis singles and mixed doubles, then you will be ready to play against them."

The two students could only gape at the long list of what seemed like impossible tasks. Sure, they had come to the school dreaming of being the best tennis players that they could become, and this did not diminish those dreams, but doing all of this in the three years that were meant to be spent learning. But Izuku knew that there was nothing holding them back except their own effort, and that didn't stop him from completing Toshinori's hellish training regime dubbed the 'All-American Dream Regime.'

"We better take their advice and get ready ourselves, there's not a lot of time and we're going to be very busy" Alex turned to the Headmaster.

"Ah yes, it's already the end of April and the Island Open is at the end of the summer and we got a lot of work to do if we're going stand a chance against Empire Academy and Factory Academy," Nezu sighed heavily at the prospect of planning a new strategy to stave off U.A.'s ever-growing rivals.

The two teachers approached their students, they both had high hopes for them and wished that their training methods could stoke the flames within the two rising stars into blazing bonfires that can craft them into the greatest tennis team and players. "It's going to be tough from here on," Alex started with his signature smirk. "Train hard every day and sleep well every night, so you'll be ready for it, all right?"

Mina and Izuku both nodded in thanks for the advice as the teachers headed back to the faculty building with quickened pace, leaving the two young adults alone to contemplate their future. "What the hell just happened," Mina broke the silence, taking a few steps towards the building.

"I think we just got issued the challenge of a lifetime," Izuku exasperated loudly. They had a lot of training to do and so little time to get themselves tournament ready.

"So, we have to win all those just to find out who those masked players are and to play against them? Do you think we can do it, partner?" she asked, the desperation for reassurance evident in her stark, golden eyes.

"Well, I do believe we came to this academy for the purpose of becoming the best tennis players ever," Izuku smirked mirthfully.

"Alright, smartass," Mina punched him playfully in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he mocked the cry. "We can do it, we just need to train a shitload to make the perfect team as well work on our personal skills. But yes, we can do."

Mina smiled gleefully before enveloping her partner in a tight hug, he was the best partner she could hope for and possibly the best friend ever, though she wasn't going to perm freeze him with the title of friend even if it was a bit hopeful. "That better not just be lip service," she pulled away from the hug but kept her hands on his shoulders. "Heh… I'm not sure what's all going on, but at least we have a goal now, even if it is pretty out there. Let's do our best from now on!"

He was ready to take on the challenge and prove to the academy… no, prove to the world that he and Mina made the perfect team and that they were the best tennis players ever. All he could do was nod and grin in agreement as he was not exactly sure what would be appropriate to say in the situation. Luckily, his partner's growling stomach saved him from his social awkwardness induced fickle with its mighty war cry of hunger.

"Fuck!" the pink-haired athlete cried with wide, horror filled eyes. "I never got to eat! I'm sooooo hungry!" she practically went limp in his arms in overexaggerated hunger pains and spasms. He couldn't lie, she was too damned cute. And in the snap of a moment she was on her feet again and running back to the building like a bowling down an alley that would knock any pins down that would dare to interfere with its mission. To be fair, Izuku could feel his own stomach running dangerously on empty since he had not eaten since lunch yesterday, so he quickly followed suit and dashed after his cute partner. "Hurry, Deku! There might still be some food left if we hurry!"

"You're the one that said we had to see the match that we missed anyway!" he scolded jokingly after her.

 _~Power Tour~_

It was almost ten at night when they returned to the dorms, the cooler spring night chilling their sweat soaked skin and the streetlamps casting a beautiful ominousness over the courtyard. The courtyard itself was relatively plain except the perfect brick pattern and the two benches flanking the edges along with two warp pipes that looked like they came straight out of a Nintendo game. Mina led them into the open space, dragging her feet just as much as the green-haired athlete. After a quick breakfast, they had hit the training grounds running, quite literally, spending the full day focusing on training physical strength rather than any on the courts.

"I'm so fucking tired, yet we did so little real training," Mina complained, but it didn't bother Izuku after all the work that they had done.

"Physical training is just as important as technical training because you can't run around a court without good stamina," he pointed out wearily. He had set them on a routine just as difficult as his normal ones with Toshinori had been, so it was understandable that someone not used to them would have trouble.

"Oh you are so smart, my Deku, that's why you make the perfect match for me. Well, that and a few other things, like how you do wonders for my eyes and make my heart jump with joy every time I see you," she mumbled. Izuku realised that she was utterly delirious with exhaustion, so she was speaking so honestly because she didn't comprehend the full extent of the fact that she was speaking aloud. Almost like she was drunk.

"Alright, Mina, we should get you to bed, it's quite late," he tried to guide her to the door despite his own exhaustion induced weakness.

Mina giggled at his prodding and proceeded to wrap her arms around his body, "Heh, to bed, my darling partner! Tomorrow is a big day! The coaches are going to open those special training machines, I wonder what they are?"

"I haven't a clue, but the sooner we get to sleep the sooner we'll see what they are. Now come on! To bed!" he urged her the door. As much of a hassle as this was becoming, he could not leave her to find her own way to her room and risk her getting hurt. It took fifteen minutes of bumbling and wobbling up four flights of stairs and down a few halls before they reached her door.

"Thank you, Deku," she mumbled as she opened the door to reveal a pinkly decorated room.

"Anything for you, my partner," he replied tiredly. He barely noticed that he was no longer flinching at the name.

"You know what?" Mina leaned up against the threshold. "You are the best and I think I like you, like 'really' like you. I'm glad I picked you out of the crowd to be my partner."

Izuku blushed profusely at her truth-filled comment, "I think I like you too and I'm so happy that you choose me. We have a big day tomorrow and a bright future ahead, get some sleep so you can enjoy it."

"Good night, Deku," she hugged him again before heading inside.

"Good night, Mina," he closed the door behind her.

His mind was a swirl trying to comprehend all that had happened that day as he made his way back to his own room, but there was too much for his tired brain to handle it all. All that mattered was that coming to U.A. was the best decision ever and he was having the time of his life with the greatest partner and friend that he ever had. His mind blissfully fell into sleep just as he fell onto his bed with his thoughts focused on the future and what it had in store for himself and Mina.

 **A/N: This story was honestly, in the greatest moment of irony, an idea that came to me in the shower yesterday after I posted a new chapter for Elemental Hero. Don't worry, I won't forget that story. The game that this story is a crossover with, Mario Tennis Power Tour, is probably my favourite game for the Game Boy Advance and in my top ten all time favourites. Not to mention it was one of my first games (I didn't start gaming until I was seven). To answer a few questions: Do I enjoy tennis? Why yes, yes I do. Am I good at it? Hell no. I am also opening this story for character submissions. If you want to enter a character, comment their name and a brief description and I will try to fit them into the story as well as recognise you in the author's note. The ranking system for U.A. will be described next chapter, so don't worry if you feel a bit confused. Ask questions and I will answer with a pm. leave a review to let me know how you felt about it! Follow/favourite the story if you liked it! Until Next time!**

 **~Grandmaster Robin~**


	2. Chapter 2: The Battle Against Team Perv

**A/N: I must sincerely apologise for the wait. The only explanation I can give is that life happens and it took forever to find the motivation to write this, but I had a blast writing this and it was one hell of an adventure. this might be the longest chapter I've ever written, but it would have been shit if I did cut it short. Sorry for all the tennis terminology but I would have fucked up explaining it otherwise, so my best offer is to use Wikipedia to search tennis courts, tennis strokes, and other terminology you don't understand. last thing: this story definitely will earn its M rating.**

Chapter Two

"Come on, Deku! I know you got this!" Ochako Uraraka called out from the side-line in support using his nickname that had become quite popular in the Junior class over the last three weeks.

She was a cute girl, though nowhere near as cute as Mina, in the Junior class that was partnered with Katsuki Bakugo and held the third rank in Junior's doubles. She had coffee-coloured bob styled hair, rosy cheeks, brown eyes, average height, persistent cheery attitude (which had no place being paired with Bakugo), and decent bust (He hated how he had picked up noticing this from his friend Denki Kaminari). Despite her partnership with the wild boy that had become Izuku's recurrent bully again, she was quite friendly with the green-haired athlete and often joined him and Mina for training session like this one.

"Perfection comes with experience, Midoriya, so if we keep up this training then you will master the service stroke soon enough!" the ever-so enthusiastic Iida Tenya called to him from the other side of the court next to Mina. He was absurdly tall, probably over six feet tall, had neatly trimmed black hair, wore square glasses, and was built to run.

"Alright, we only have thirty minutes until dinner, so let's make the best of it," Izuku huffed as he leaned forward on his knees with his racquet firmly gripped in his right hand. He was standing behind the baseline on the right (in his view) where he would normally serve the ball.

Mina, arguably one of the fastest tennis players at the academy with the best control in the Junior class, decided to lead their training session on the service stroke seeing how Izuku had less than adequate control, which was a necessary skill for good accuracy and serves. The pink athlete had invited Iida, probably the only person that could rival her in speed, his partner Toru Hagakure and Ochako of course. Iida and Toru already held third rank in the Senior class doubles despite being first years.

The ranking system at U.A. can be a bit complicated to say the least. It functioned like the curriculum at U.A., everyone worked at their own pace and the only thing that held people back was their lack of skill. Every first year entered the academy in the Junior class, but none were restricted to stay in that class, as was evident with Team Iida-Toru and Team Shoto-Momo, who held third and second rank in the Senior class respectively. Students could advance to the next class if they fought from fifth rank all the way to first rank, which would guarantee them an unranked position in the next class, or they could just wait for the next year and be automatically moved up to the next class. With their new unranked position in the next class, they could give up that old first rank so they did not have to worry about ranking matches in that class. Izuku and Mina decided to sit back and watch the early bloodbath for ranks in the first few weeks, knowing they would only get themselves into a mess if they tried to advance too early, while they trained to build their skills as players and as a team.

Outside of the ranking system, there was also the prestige system wherein every team could win a point for every prestige match that they won or lose a point for every defeat, and the team at the end of the year with the most points would win a mystery prize from the academy. Points were also tracked weekly with the top ten winning rewards such as boat reservations at the lake, free arcade time, weekend bus tickets into town, and [most importantly] free desserts. Both systems were kept separate so that a ranking match would not count for points and a prestige match would not gain one a rank, but both had to be officiated by a coach to ensure legitimacy. At graduation after three years, the team with the highest rank would be titled the Ranking Valedictorians while the team with the best win/loss ratio would be titled the Prestige Valedictorians, and the circumstances when they were the same team resulted in there only being one set of Valedictorians. Such positions, as well as being listed in the Academy's top ten, would more than likely draw professional sponsorships, guaranteed spots at tournaments and free admission to Olympic try-outs. Needless to say, the school was extremely competitive.

They quickly found out in their first few training sessions that Izuku may be a skilled player, but he was just an exceptional powerhouse on the court with only decent control and an above average speed. Mina, on the other hand, was a speedy technical player that found herself leading most of the training sessions, when Coach Mark was not doing it himself, while Izuku took the reins on their physical exercise. She believed that they could go for their first ranking match tomorrow or the day after that, depending on Izuku managing to get control over his serves.

"You managed to master keeping a good volley, so this shouldn't be too hard, just remember what Coach Mark taught during his lesson on service," Mina encouraged her partner. She stood diagonally across from the boy on the backcourt to mark the target area "Keep it slow for now so you can work on your aim."

"Easier said than done," he chuckled, raising himself up to his full height. Toru, a pretty blond with a dark tan and a bob-styled hair cut like Ochako, tossed him a ball from the service line on their half of the court and caught it with ease. "Watch yourselves!" he warned everyone that would be in his path.

Cocking his right arm, he lightly tossed the ball into the air and sliced it towards Mina's side of the court, but it went wide again and barely missed the service box as it landed in the back court. His partner did not even bother to swing at the ball but grabbed it out of the air as it bounced back up in her direction.

"That's another fault for failing to land the ball in the service box, Deku," she scolded before she tossed the ball back to him. "Again, now try not to put your full strength into the swing."

Izuku nodded and returned to his position behind the baseline to start over again. Going through the same serving motion as before, he tried as hard as possible to do what he was told and concentrated on aiming his strike in the direction of the service box. He reduced the strength he used in the serve, hoping it was not too much of a reduction as to result in a let. The boy watched the ball as though it were in slow motion fly across the net, his anxiety growing every nanosecond until it landed within the service box in front of Mina.

The group of students watched almost as closely as their practicing friend with hope of success and the moment they realised that the ball hit its target, they exploded with cheers of triumph. Mina would have missed the ball ricocheting off of the ground towards her because of all the excitement but managed to deflect it clumsily back over the net for Toru to stop. While all the other members of the study group had managed to regularly get, if not master, perfect services in five sessions, Izuku fell behind to the point everyone was doing something to help him out, so it was exhilarating to see all their teaching come to fruition.

But above them all, Mina was the most excited as it was her own partner that had managed to overcome his hindrances and reach this accomplishment with the help of her skills and teachings. "You did it, Deku! You did it!" she cheered as she rushed the boy, gracefully leaping over the net that blocked her path.

"M-Mina!" he barely managed to yelp before the girl tackled him and smothered him in a hug, not that he wanted to complain about the placement of his face in her chest.

"Woohoo! That was awesome, Izu-zu!" Toru the little ball of energy wiggled her little dance of enthusiasm, a sight that could be seen at pretty much any event that had some action in it, as she gathered with the others around the targeted boy.

"Congratulations, Midoriya! Now just do that a hundred more times in a row to make sure you have it down to memory!" Iida exaggerated his over the top earnestness with odd arm motions that probably indicated compliments in his body language.

"Sure thing, dude," Izuku called over Mina's embrace with a pained smirk, mentally rolling his eyes at his friend. He liked the guy no doubt, but his extreme seriousness could be a little too much to handle and quite quirky in casual situations.

The pink-haired athlete released Izuku from her clutches just in time to see Ochako approach the huddle with a thumbs-up, "Good job, Deku! Keep that up and you'll reach Bakugo and me in no time, though we won't hold anything back in a ranking match."

"I would never have it any other way," he grinned at the challenge.

The trials that Alex had issued to Izuku and his partner had set them up for what they needed to get ready for and where they were going, but it was in the training that they had been doing together that was the real confidence booster, with this session being the ultimate boon in preparing both their minds and bodies. He never had much assurance in himself until he met his mentor and even then, he was still nervous about stepping onto the courts with an entire school of students ferociously competing for the number one spot, to get a chance at the Island Open and their first taste of the limelight.

He had thought that Toshinori had beat the nervousness out of him and had whipped him into a skilled tennis player with his gruelling training regime, but it was Mina's persistence that had dragged him through the mud to cleanse him of his bad habits. Izuku felt that they were ready to start moving up the ranking ladder, the first few ranking matches would be an experience necessary towards finding out what they needed to get out of junior class as soon as possible.

The real problems that stood in Mina and Izuku's way of getting to the top spot in the school would not hit them until they reached Senior class, where most of the students were already second years that had a whole year of U.A. training as teams under their belts. There was also the fact that the new gym building that was chock full of secret specialized training machines was restricted to the senior class and above. Senior class would have the advantage of special training over the two young athletes and, from the very little Toru and Iida were allowed to tell them, it seemed that the new training machines could make a hell of a difference in how matches played out.

"Alright now, Deku," Mina commanded enthusiastically as she headed back over to her side of the court, "Iida is correct, we need to get this technique hammered into your noggin and built into muscle memory, so we're going to keep doing this until dinner."

"I'll get this down in no time!" he pumped himself up for the coming intense practice.

"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to go find my partner," Ochako strode off towards the other side of the Junior courts with a wave, "hopefully he's done with Teams Kyouka-Denki and Eijiro-Mei so we can get some last-minute training."

""""See you at dinner!"""" the other four called in disunion and waved to her.

"Toru and I are going to move over a court so we can do our own practice as well," Iida waved over his partner as he left the court. "Keep up the good work, Izuku! And don't forget! One hundred more tries!"

The green-haired sighed heavily at the exit remark and placed his palm on his perspiration-soaked forehead out of exasperation. He noticed that his partner reacted in a similar way, despite that she would probably have no quarrels with helping him practice serving that many times if not more. Iida's over the top seriousness included, they all still loved the guy, he was an integral member of their friend group.

Finally finding themselves alone on the court, Mina turned her full attention to the boy that stood diagonal across the net from her. She took a ready stance with her hawk-like gaze ready to pick any movement and any faults her partner could make to disqualify a serve, but she found herself distracted by the very person she was watching. Gazing at his well-defined body, toned muscles, and cute face, she could feel her own face warm up like a heating pad, her stomach flutter, and lustful thoughts spawn in her mind. Her partner's movements barely registered in her consciousness.

Izuku had to shake his head in attempt, and failure, to rid himself of similar thoughts about the pink-haired girl that was the centre of his attention: her toned muscles, voluptuous breasts held tight by a sports bra, and a face more beautiful than anything he had seen before. He really needed to get his head in the game, but there was no way he could stop thinking about how amazing Mina was, both with her physical features and her unseen traits. With distracted attention, he took the basic service stance that the Junior class coach taught them all and went through the movements to serve at a slower but more controlled pace. Clumsily, he tossed the ball in the air and sliced it across the court.

~Power Tour~

"I may have been on the other side of the Junior courts, but I could still see that it was Izuku's ogling at Mina that made him mess up so many times," the electric blond Denki Kaminari sniggered from the end of the table, on Izuku's left, that the whole group was sitting at for dinner. "Who knew that he would be- Ow! Fuck!"

His partner, Kyouka Jiro, sitting next to him quickly jabbed the boy both in the side with a hand and in the eyes with a glare to silence him. "That's enough from you! You're almost as bad as that horrid Mineta," the raven-haired girl scolded.

"I am not that low! I at least don't go the girls' showers to peep on them!" Kaminari countered with an offended expression.

"No, but you peep on me while I'm changing in my own room," she accused starkly.

"That was one- ow, fucking hell! Okay it was ten times, but that tends to happen when you only give me a three second warning while I'm already in your room!" he caved into her repeated pokes only to cause her to flourish red after his response.

Izuku could not help himself from joining the group's laughter at their banter, both out of genuine amusement and to hide his embarrassment for being called out by the electric-haired boy. Kaminari's peculiar humour and his quirky relationship with Kyouka had been quickly accepted by the group and never missed the chance to be the butt of a joke. Though the boy was known for frequently going a bit overboard when it came to teasing and making jokes when his girlfriend/doubles partner was not there to keep him in check, he could actually be a good friend at the right times.

As a group of friends, one could say that they all banded together in a rather peculiar method, connecting to each other through mutual friendships, partnerships, and acquaintanceships current and past. Izuku had been friends with Kaminari in secondary school, so he brought his partner Jiro and occasionally her friend, Momo Yaoyorozu, who subsequently dragged along her partner Shoto Todoroki. Mina had been friends with Kirishima since middle school and he brought along his partner Mei Hatsume, who in turn invited Team Tsuyu-Mashirao as friends from secondary school. Both Mina and Izuku had become good friends with Tenya, Toru, and Ochako during the Welcome Workout, so they were naturally invited to the growing group as well. There were drifters that would occasionally (unfortunately not this time) join them for meals, training sessions, and socialising: Fumikage Tokoyami and his partner Itsuka Kendo, Kirishima's friend/rival Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, the annoying but bearable loner Neito Monoma, and Kendo's friend Yosetsu Awase. All in all, they somehow bonded as a mismatched group pf friends that did not let their goals of reaching the top interfere with their camaraderie. The also worked efficiently together to vehemently defend a table on the second floor of the cafeteria near a window that they had staked a claim to on the first week since it had the best view of the lake and the campus's sprawling territory.

"Midoriya is certainly not one to get distracted in that sort of matter and he would not stoop to the level of ogling Ashido," Iida adamantly defended his friend from the other side of the table. "You have to give him a break, he is still practicing his technical and control skills on the court." The black-haired was only partially correct, but Izuku was never going to admit that he had a hard time keeping his eyes away from Mina and on the ball.

"There's nothing wrong with a man occasionally having a good look at pretty women," Eijiro Kirishima cut in from the side opposite of the green-haired athlete. "Maybe I should mention all the times I've caught you gazing after Senpai Camie Utsushimi ever since you met her running the Welcome Workout. I'd bet that you have the hots for her!"

"That is not true!" Iida turned to defend himself, unaware of Toru rolling her eyes from beside him. "She is completely informal and to unprofessional for an upperclassman."

"That doesn't mean anything. Plus, how do you explain the time you went to her for a private lesson?" Kirishima countered with a grin on his face. "And here's the real kicker, she agreed and even asked if he wanted to hang out at the rec building later!"

Izuku was certainly glad that the focus of the discussion shifted away from his embarrassing moments from earlier. Oddly enough, despite wanting to become the greatest tennis player ever, he still shied away from being drawn into the spotlight. However, his reprieve from the group's focus was cut short by Mina beside him as she interrupted the heated teasing between the boys.

"Well, at least Deku managed to gain some good technique and control at serving by the end of the training session. He was performing adequately almost every single time from my perspective," Mina reported to snuff out the rumours of her partner's gawking. In all honesty, she had noticed his gaze because she had been doing the same thing as he was so she could not really criticize him.

"You hear that, Izuku?" Kaminari jeered at him again, waggling an eyebrow. "She says you've been performing well for her. Good man- Ow! Fuck! Stop poking me already, Damn it!"

"Only when you stop mercilessly targeting those two for a while!" Kyouka scolded him again over Mina and Izuku's embarrassment cringing and the sighs of annoyance from everyone else.

"So, are you two finally going to start moving up the ranking ladder?" Tsuyu Asui bluntly addressed the two. She sat on Izuku's left along with her partner, Mashirao Ojiro. "You haven't appeared to put much interest in tackling the advancement bracket."

"Izuku and I are still discussing that, but I believe we are ready to take on the fifth rank soon enough," Mina Answered honestly.

"Yeah and our first match should tell us what to expect when we go to face the higher ranks," Izuku agreed with his partner. "What do you guys know about them?"

"Always one to analyse and calculate your next steps eh, Izuku?" Kirishima smirked as he returned to his plate briefly. "With the exception of Ochako's team, only because we didn't get to face them, the rest of Junior class is pretty sloppy and has poor teamwork. The rest of us made it into the unranked of Senior class pretty easily and that's where things get difficult. Mei and I barely won our fifth rank match today."

"Yeah those seniors really don't mess around. They had some pretty outstanding equipment as well," Mei added gleefully with the mention of her favourite topic. "I'm almost afraid of what the Varsity class is like."

"There's no doubt that Varsity class is going to get a bit worried with all the first years that are making it into the Senior class so quickly. They will probably get more defensive and more proactive in stopping us from making it far enough to take their positions of opportunity to make it to the Island Open," Ojiro spoke up for the first time that meal, which was not unusual with how quiet he normally was.

"Do you mean sabotage?" Izuku inquired apprehensively to receive a grim nod and similar gestures from the others. "That was to be expected with how competitive this school is, though I had hoped it would have been a small minority due to fear of dishonour."

He did not expect himself or Mina to be on the receiving end of such attacks for a while due to their unranked position, but with all the attention that the first years were drawing it would not be long until the older students start focusing on dragging down the ones that had done well at the Welcome Workout like the Senior class first years. His and Mina's goal to become the best tennis players ever and face off against the masked players just became a little more difficult a little early. At least the two now knew about the additional predicament that they faced so they could create a plan action in the emergency of sabotage or other attacks. If the green-haired athlete and his partner planned properly and trusted each other wholly (about which he was most certain that they both did), then any attack would only strengthen them and bring them closer together rather than divide and defeat them.

"Hey, if you two needed any of your equipment checked out and repaired before you go up for you first ranking match, I would be happy to offer my services to repair them for free this one time," Mei cut into the gloom with her gleeful attitude.

"Yeah thanks, Mei!" Izuku nodded in her direction. "I think the wires in my racquet are getting a bit loose, could you check it out tomorrow morning?" the longer pink-haired girl nodded in agreement.

After his little exchange with Mei, Izuku realised that Ochako had not spoken more than a few words for the entirety of dinner, which was quite unusual considering her normally chipper and social character. Looking over at her on the other side of Mina he spotted his friend gazing across the cafeteria with a longing expression plastered on her face. Izuku followed her gaze to another table of raucous boys and it was obvious which one was the centre of her attention: Katsuki Bakugo. The green-haired athlete did not know what she saw in him to choose as a partner and he sure as hell did not understand the feelings that Izuku suspected the girl had for the wild boy. However, he was not one to judge the feelings one felt nor was he one to hinder a relationship that a friend wanted, but he could not help feeling concerned for his friend because of how awful Bakugo could be.

The rest of the meal continued on as they ate with only a little banter and small talk to fill in the void caused by their exhaustion and the grim out look of what the older students may be planning to wreck their advancement. While they all may be rivals, Izuku had a feeling that they had a sense of camaraderie that would triumph in the face of a force aimed at dividing them. The sharing of stories that he enjoyed with them, the emotions he experienced with them, and the laughter that he shared with them eased the stress of the school's hard work and soothed the pains of loneliness that the green-haired athlete had experienced most of his life since the schism between himself and Bakugo in their early youth.

Then there was Mina Ashido to top off the list of all the good things that had happened to him at U.A., and there was no doubt she was number one on that list no matter how cool it was to have more friends than just Kaminari. She listened intently when ever told an anecdote, laughed at his occasionally good moments of humour, helped him while he struggled to get better control on the courts, and she was one of the first friends he had to stand up to Bakugo for him and care about him. He had no words to explain how excited he felt each time she said hi to him, asked him how he was, asked him to hang out when they were not practicing, or just spent any time with him.

When the cafeteria announced that they were closing shortly, the group quickly finished eating their food, delivered their plates to the kitchen crew, and filed out of the building in their pack like all the other students in the crowded eatery. Given the late time, everyone headed back to the dorm building down the street to rest and recover from another long day of training and lessons. Climbing up the stairs, they said their good nights at each floor to those that parted ways to find their rooms, and both Mina and Izuku finally stepped off the forth floor for Mina's room.

"Welcome to my humble abode once again, my Deku!" Mina welcomed her partner gleefully as she opened the door to her room. The best way to describe what it looked like was as if the Pink Panther had a thing for extravagantly designing the room with pink and black patterns on almost everything, from fuzzy carpets and cushioned chairs to striped blankets and curtains.

"You sure you don't want to have our team meetings to be held in my room for a change?" Izuku questioned as he closed the door behind himself.

"Nah, I feel like I'm constantly being watched in that room by all those All Might posters. Don't get me wrong, it's really cool that you have all the memorabilia, but having his eyes following me all the time is a bit nerve racking. Plus, there are fewer occupied rooms on this floor, so we can have a little more privacy should we need it," she giggled with a flirtatious wink. It was certainly something he had to get used to, but Mina's playful and flirtatious nature was never too aggressive yet it was enough to infatuate the young boy hook, line, and sinker.

Unbeknownst to him, Mina had been infatuated by how cute her partner was in her eyes and how courageous he was for coming to the most prestigious tennis academy in the country when he had had only a year of training beforehand. There was also the fact that he was an amazing listener that listened keenly to the few times she ranted about the drama going on with her old friends at home. The two athlete partners had already admitted to themselves the feelings that they had for the other but had yet to realise the reciprocated feeling from the other.

They stood there in the middle of the pink-haired girl's room awkwardly in silence for a few minutes, unsure how to how to continue with all the romantic tension heating up to a boiling point. What should he do? Should he just sit down on her bed like they usually did for meetings or was that rude and too forward?

What should she do? Should she just invite him to sit down next to me on the bed or is that too aggressive and sexually provocative? Why does he look slightly confused and distressed? [He doesn't want to be here because I'm making him feel awkward, my flirting is getting to be too much for him. But didn't he flirt back earlier today?]

[She doesn't want me here because I'm back to my awkward self from before the academy. I know I'm bad at this whole flirting thing and all, but I guess she doesn't reciprocate and all that flirting before was her being playful. I should stop so I don't upset her.] Should he try to address the issue of their prospective advancement in order to sweep this situation under the rug and try to forget that it happened?

[Cupid in the distance: Damn it, just kiss each other already!]

He took a step forward to start things off, "So, er… about tom-" and it was at that exact moment that his shoe laces decided to fuck everything up and trip him because they were a little bit loose.

He felt the horror of what was going on grip him as he fell right into the direction that he stepped in, right into his partner. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Mina choose to face him directly and his taller height landed his face right into hers, taking her down with him. They landed right on her bed, but, thankfully, Izuku prevented himself from crushing her by putting up his hands to break his fall. While Mina was sprawled on the bed, his face and body hung only inches from her own in a very intimate position as he held himself up with his arms boxing in his partner.

Both of their breathing was quickened by the sudden rush of adrenaline and Izuku could feel his heart racing, whether it was from the fall or from the provocative situation he was in, he did not know. They both smelled of sweat from the long day of exercise and hard work, yet neither seemed to care as they were both enraptured by the other. He gazed into her golden irises as she gazed into his green ones with a guise of desire. Her mind was racing with excitement for how close her partner was, she wanted to embrace him, be held by his strong arms and kiss him lovingly, but one thing held her back from all that she wanted to do: the fear of rejection.

She was so close to him, her lips just out of reach of his own, lush and waiting to unite with his own. A lingering sensation the resided in all people welled up in his heart, one that incited the primal instinct to take what he loved as his own and shower all the emotions of love he had unto it. No matter how tempting it was to fall for those feelings, he knew that he could not violate the one he loved and he also did not know her feelings. For all he knew, she could see him as a very good friend or worse: a brother.

"Well, I never planned to have our meeting like this, but it certainly is an interesting way to do it," Mina tried to laugh off the urge to take her partner and bed him right then and there.

"Ha! Yeah, sorry about that. Shoe laces must have come undone after all the running around I did today," he laughed as well to hide his mortification that was slowly killing him from the inside out.

"You want to keep that position the entire time? Your arms must be getting tired." Lie down with me, Watson, she thought humorously, spend the night with me, that's all I want.

"I could keep this up for a while, and despite how much I like it, I doubt you want to be this close to me for very long," he countered.

[I just want to be closer to you,] they both thought to themselves. It hurt them both to deny themselves their desires, but neither could stand up against the fear of rejection.

"Yeah, you kinda smell like shit, go take a shower after this," she gagged flippantly.

"So do you!" he teased by wrinkling his nose at her. Reluctantly, he flipped off of her and sat up on the bed, letting her raise herself to a sitting position. "So, about tomorrow, do you think we're ready for the challenge?"

"We have to start sometime soon if we want to make it to the top rank in Varsity class by the end of August. We can train all we want but it won't count for much if we don't have any experience on the competitive courts," Mina argued as she leaned up against her partner, something he was getting used to from her.

"Then after I get my racquet checked by Hatsume in the morning, we should find that creep Minoru Mineta and his partner, the so called 'Harem King' perv Yuki Kaji, and challenge them for the fifth rank," Izuku said with his voice full of disgust for having to say the names of the two biggest pervs on campus. At least Yuki could be bearable at times and he never actually tried to do anything to the girls on campus, you just had to put up with listening to him talking about the latest porno that he watched or rant about how amazing breasts are or his countless declarations of becoming a harem king eventually.

"The sooner we finish this battle the better," Mina agreed with his disgust. "I don't even know how they managed to get a rank in the first place."

"It's because Yuki is actually a competent player. I remember playing a few singles matches against him during the Welcome Workout, he was pretty good," the green-haired athlete recalled the first day. "Though most of his skills are cancelled out by how fucking terrible Mineta is."

The boy's perverseness put aside, Izuku actually somewhat admired Yuki's surprising amount of tennis skills, not to mention their similar origins of becoming tennis players in recent history. Like Izuku, the perv did not really learn how to play the sport until last year, and he was taught by a group of pro players that lived in his hometown (Who were surprisingly all women that were somehow not driven off by his nature). As previously mentioned, he was a skilled tennis player, however he performed better in single matches which were not as popular but still had a competitive bracket in the Island Open. He just had the misfortune of being paired up with an even worse perv that was pretty much a brainiac, fanboy with no skills as his doubles partner.

"It sounds like we have a good plan for tomorrow," Mina announced gleefully, "and a long day ahead of us. We should get a good night's rest." She then surprised him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, one that was too lasting to be a peck but still not on the lips. "And a shower, we both smell bad. I can't believe we went to dinner smelling like this!" she whined as they stood up and headed for the door.

"The others that were training with us did not shower either, so they smelled just as bad as us if not worse considering how much Iida sweats. Besides, this is the smell of our hard work and our soon-to-be victory, we should enjoy this!" he remarked sarcastically, then enveloped his partner in a tight embrace to smother her in the smell of his sweat.

"Ack! No… Deku! Please no!" she pleaded and gagged in her struggle to free herself from his grasp, only to accept her fate after several moments of futility. To her surprise, he planted a peck on her cheek in retaliation for earlier, but also to drop some hints of his feelings for her.

"Good night, Mina. I can't wait for tomorrow to start kicking some ass with you!" he held the façade of a smile as he opened the door and left with a heavy heart that wished to spend the night with her.

"Good night, Deku. Neither can I," The pink-haired athlete could feel her heart sink as she watched the door close behind her partner's exit. She should call him back to her room and confess how she felt, but she thought that would only irritate him and he would reject her. Besides, who would want to be with a brash and dominating girl such as herself?

Izuku's mind was a mess on his way down to his room, part of him just wanted to race back to Mina's room and confess everything he felt for her while the other half argued that it was not a good time for that after that little tripping accident. He needed a shower to cool his thoughts. Everything can wait for tomorrow.

~Power Tour~

The break of dawn came with its beautiful rise of the sun over the hills and the two partners quickly found each other as soon as they woke up and stumbled out of their rooms. They ate a light breakfast of whatever they could scavenge from their rooms before heading out to the track field for a normal warmup session (Izuku actually enjoyed waking up early in order to get the day going but it took over a week to get Mina to join the schedule and she still complained occasionally). It was a Saturday, so it was not surprising that almost no one had woken up as early as they did, but the main part of campus was a buzzing hive of action by the time they had finished two hours later. Despite how almost everyone seemed to be up, he still had to track Mei all the way back to Kirishima's room to find her in his bed. Lest to say more on how the interaction went down, Izuku gave them an extra thirty minutes while he waited before he could get his racquet to be repaired. It was almost eleven o'clock by the time they both reached the Junior courts.

"So, you all are ready for a fifth rank match, eh?" Coach Mark inquired from the four athletes that stood before him at his little 'office' at the back of the Junior courts. The brown-haired coach had been eager to see Team Izuku-Mina play their first ranking match ever since Alex told him that these two were likely the best students to attend U.A. since Alex, Kevin, Emily, and himself all started together nearly twelve years ago.

""""Yes, sir!"""" they all answered keenly.

"You know the rules, keep this a clean match and I'll keep a close watch for cheating," the coach glanced at each student, starting with determined-looking Izuku Midoriya and ending with the equally determined-looking Yuki Kaji. "One last piece of advice: never consider your opponents lightly, treat them as if they can take the advantage at any given moment, no matter what you have heard that may tell you otherwise. Oh, and don't forget to have fun!"

They all nodded in acknowledgment to his advice, then each team turned to their opponents and shook their hands as per tradition before every match, despite how little they wanted to come into physical contact with the two lecherous boys. Both teams were ready for the showdown, ready to give it their all to come on top of the brawl, but Yuki had a hanging feeling that he and his partner were not even close to being ready as a team to stand a chance against what rumours claimed to be the first year's 'Dream Team.' He would just have to his best to pull off this victory on his own. He really should have stuck to just playing singles rather than try to reap all the glory in doubles when no-one actually wanted to be his partner.

"Listen up, everyone!" Mark called out over the courts with his teacher voice which stopped everyone in their tracks. "We have a ranking match on our hands between Team Izuku-Mina and Team Yuki-Minoru. Clear court A!" he ordered to the students standing at attention. They all complied in clearing the main court and began to form a crowd to watch the match, some of them had looks of surprise at who was participating, with the exception of Bakugo who looked pissed about being distracted by the match. Next to her partner, Ochako looked downright joyful at the announcement.

The two teams dropped their equipment bags away from the courts and separated onto either side of the net with their racquets at the ready as the coach approached his umpire's chair beside the net. The good ol' American that he was pulled a quarter out of his pocket instead of a yen to conduct the coinflip that would decide which team would serve first. "Challenger gets tails," Coach Mark announced as he flipped the coin, "And Challenger will serve first." Sitting up in his raised chair, he tossed a fresh tennis ball to Mina, who had taken the service position for their team. "According to Junior class rules, victory requires only one set with six games won by the victor. Ready on the courts? Game one, set one." The coach then nodded to the player for their start.

"You can do it, Deku and Mina! Beat those pervs out of the ranks!" Ochako led the chorus of cheers for his team.

Izuku was ready for the fight and a glance back to Mina confirmed the trust that he had that his partner was ready as well to smack their opponents off the courts. Looking over to the other side of the courts, he felt no threat from the diminutive stature of the purple-haired Mineta, and, luckily, he would be the first to return service. Before they had come to the courts to find their opponents, the green-haired athlete and his partner had done some strategizing but the only thing other than basic manoeuvres that they felt was necessary to bring up was that (even though it was quite obvious) Mineta was the weak link and it would be a good idea to exploit that.

Mina took her stance and sliced the serve with all of her controlled strength in the direction of the service box diagonally across the court. The ball went so fast, faster than Mineta could have expected even if he were paying attention, that it bounced right past the receiver who had been drooling over the sight of Mina's graceful body. Yuki looked like he had to restrain himself from murdering his partner for such incompetence but managed to keep his rage to a twisted glare.

"Fifteen love," Coach Mark announced the score with a slight grin on his face. He could not play favourites among his students publicly, but he was definitely rooting for his favourite team on the inside.

The ball was tossed back to Mina from the crowd of onlookers as she switched sides with her partner so she could serve to Yuki this time. She would not go for a full powered serve like last time, doubting the possibility of getting two service aces in a row, and would focus more on control. Taking a brief moment, she glanced at the other team to quickly strategize her next move considering the taller opponent's better skills. Winding up, she sliced the serve across the court for it to be unfortunately returned to their side by a swift back hand strike from Yuki.

Izuku caught the return in just the nick of time with a light, outstretched fore hand shot back into the other side of the court. The hit was light enough that it barely made it over the net, so Mineta had to scramble to reach it and clumsily lob it to the backside of their court directly in the path of Mina. It was in a moment of complete gloriousness that she dashed up to where the ball was falling, jumped and smashed the ball back in the opposite direction. Yuki leapt towards the ball in defence but could not make it in time and his partner was still recovering from the lob, so the ball just flew right past them and into the crowd of onlookers. Izuku had a growing sense that this all felt too easy for a ranked match at this academy.

"Thirty love," Mark announced with a little too obvious grin of approval. He enjoyed every match that he got to watch but he had a suspicion that this was only a fraction of what Team Izuku-Mina were potentially capable of performing. In all reality, despite how important this match was for one of the most promising teams in Junior class, it was only a precursor for the ranking match that evening between third rank Team Ochako-Katsuki and second rank Team Sasha-Sylvia.

Mina could not help herself from pumping her fist at their little victory as she moved to her next serving position, drawing a round of laughter from everyone watching and groans of discontentment from their opponents. Izuku felt proud at how well they were doing for their start of the match, but with how good resistance was only being put up by half of the opposing team it was pretty disappointing. As he thought about it more, it came to him that it was possible that Mineta and Kaji were faking everyone out to make them comfortable with their poor performance so they could strike at the right moment to make a comeback. It was a plausible strategy, but one that relied too much on waiting the long game and too obvious for their devious personalities. Izuku had at least some tolerance for Kaji to realise that the man was smart enough, when he was not caught up in his own brashness, not to fall into such an obvious strategy.

Soon enough the two teams were back at it again, launching attacks and volleys back and forth across the court in a pitched conflict of wills. Action that barely lasted a few minutes seemed to drag on forever as their vision focused on what to do next after each strike that required good precision in nanoseconds. Offence! Defence! Feints that failed to produce the desired results.

As the server, Mina held herself back by the baseline to support the last line of defence while Izuku managed the frontline where most of the action took place. But she did her part in leaping out reflect the stray volley or took the opportunity to perform a measured lob that would land in too awkward of a position for their opponents to get a good hit on it.

"Forty-five love, game one goes to Team Izuku-Mina," Coach Mark called out after a few minutes of intense gameplay, rousing a chorus of cheers from the crowd, especially from their group of friends that gathered to the side opposite of the umpire's stand. "Service switches to Yuki Kaji."

Yuki could feel the frustration welling up in himself after such a swift and humiliating first bout of the match and he knew his partner was not handling very well, hearing the muttering of threats to do unspeakable things to Mina and the other girls that put him down. At least the taller, brunette perv knew that it was only the first game of the match (He also knew that he was disgusted by Mineta's response to their first loss), it may set the tone and expectations for the rest of the match, but it was a mere skirmish of the whole battle. Nothing was totally lost yet, he just needed to carry the team by himself.

The ball in his hand, Yuki drew back his arm, tossed the ball and sliced it across the court in the direction of Izuku. The green-haired athlete easily parried the fuzzy yellow orb back to his opponents' side right into Mineta's path. At the very last second possible, the purple-haired perv reflected the missile towards Mina, who had expected the shot and charged up her own swing. She swatted the ball with a back hand in the direction that it came from, causing the boy to duck rather than retaliate as the yellow bullet passed where his head had been a second ago. The missed opportunity earned a point for the challenger team while fuelling the anger at his partner within Yuki.

The next game started off with a heavy onslaught of volleys between Yuki and Izuku as the brown haired perv kicked his partner to the baseline and took the fight to the service box. It was a heated battle as the two shot the ball between each other at rapid speed; the coach had lost count of how many times it had passed over the net. People in the crowd stopped following the ball in order to avoid breaking their necks with how fast the action was going. Mina could almost laugh at how ridiculous the brawl looked, until a switch from a forehand grip to a backhand grip in Yuki's hand shot the ball just out of Izuku's reach. It scored a point finally for the perv team as Mina was too far away to reach the ball.

"Fifteen all," Coach Mark announced, just as surprised as the watching crowd that the team of pervs managed to score a point. Not one person from the crowd cheered or clapped at the score, but it was the complete opposite for those two boys with Kaji pumping his fist with an arrogant smirk and Mineta boasting of his importance in the minor victory. Damn, Yuki knows we're trying to exploit Mineta's weakness, Izuku cursed mentally, but he was bound to figure that out eventually.

Izuku shrugged at his partner, "It's just one point," Mina clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. "We won't let them get any farther than that! Let's crush these creeps!"

To no surprise, Yuki never let up for the rest of the bout that lasted almost fifteen minutes, dragging out his eventual defeat while his partner floundered around the court and made the occasional decent shot. While the smaller opponent amused Izuku, he felt invigorated by strong and ardent opposition that the taller perv was putting up. He was genuinely enjoying this match, how it tested his built-up skills and the fun that the back-and-forth conflict brought.

What caught Izuku's attention the most, whenever he was not caught up in the immediate heat of the match, was his own partner being engrossed in the fervour of the moment when she took the frontline. The smile that always found its home on her face, the confidence in her every movement, and the excitement in every shot she made, it reminded him of his mentor but she not only inspired him, she filled him with the exhilaration that pushed him forward.

"Fifteen to forty-five!" Coach Mark called the end of the second game along with the cheers of the crowd, "Second game goes to Team Izuku-Mina, service switches to Izuku Midoriya."

While he had plenty experience serving now (thanks to the uncountable amount of times Mina had him practice), he did not have any in an actual competitive match, and he quickly found out why his partner enjoyed it so much. He felt overjoyed by directing the starting shot of each bout, but nowhere near as much as being in the back and forth of rapid fire volleys. Unfortunately, he made one fault in the game that he was serving and Yuki pulled off a second score, but Izuku and Mina managed to turn things around for a forty-five to thirty victory.

The sun reached its noon peak as the battle between the two teams raged on through each game of the match. The late spring heat began to settle in and take effect, leaving no one's brow dry, especially the players that took no breaks from their intense battling. For all the good output that his team lacked, Yuki made up for it with his dedication and the occasional awesome shots that would have scored points had he been up against only one player. Mina and Izuku were a flurry on the court, only messing up and running into each other a small number of times. They reached the sixth game, which would be the last one if the green and pink haired duo could win it.

All four of the athletes were breathing heavily, glaring tensely at their opponents while they waited for the coach to commence the game. Yuki looked composed but his intense eyes betrayed his irritated attitude, like a cornered beast ready to fight for a pyrrhic victory. On the other hand, his partner was downright pissed off at his own performance but covered it by fuming at Yuki and Team Izuku-Mina with the occasional snide remark and insult.

"Let's do this, Deku," Mina urged him on with a smirk, wiping the sweat on her forehead into her hair, "It's been a damn good fight, so let's enjoy this last session."

Izuku nodded in agreement, "It's definitely been a learning experience, but it's not over yet."

"Yeah, I'm sure as hell not done here yet, I can't go back to senpai with this defeat without giving you all the fight of a fucking lifetime!" Yuki called out from his side of the court.

"Don't disappoint us, 'Harem King'!" Mina taunted with tired laugh, earning a chorus a laughter from her target and the remaining onlookers. Both she and Izuku readied themselves and took a stance for coming showdown.

In a swift, fluid motion, Yuki kicked off the game with a superb serve that flew across the court like a bullet and bounced up in Izuku's direction for him to knock it back with a well-controlled backhand. And without a pause, the court turned back into the yellow bullet's battleground as it whizzed back and forth between the violent racquets. Mina won the first point after several volleys when she smashed a lob tactic attempted by Mineta to trick Izuku. He was back up to the service box for the next go, but it turned into a heated grudge match between himself and Yuki until the raven-haired tried to snatch the ball out of the loop but ended up getting whacked in the face, earning himself a point.

They started up again with another violent back and forth between Yuki and Mina; as she had more control over the ball, she gave her opponent a harder time to reach each shot than Izuku had. The cycle broke when the taller brunette boy shot the ball off in a different direction out of the reach of the pink-haired girl and into the back side of the court. Izuku dashed for the ball, dived and knocked it back over the net to Mineta, who managed to deflect it to Mina for a grand slam to end the bout.

"Fifteen to thirty," Mark scored the game, "A Match point has been reached, if Team Izuku-Mina scores once more they will take the victory as well as Junior class fifth rank. Best of luck to both teams." School rules still dictated that the coach had to maintain a neutral position despite all the negative opinions about the perv team.

His eyes filled with the fires of determination, Yuki launched one last desperate attack to make it a difficult victory for his opponent. However, his resolute serve was met with an equally fuelled desire for victory as Mina smashed the return across the court. The final fight was on as they gave it their all with the fading strength of a long, hard fought match.

Kaji countered the return straight to Izuku for him to punch it back at full strength to the raven-haired perv. The surge of power in the volley surprised Mineta and the young man (though his antics and personality should have him labelled as a boy despite his age) was knocked back by the sheer force but still passed the ball back over the net. Mina took this opportunity to run to the slow flying ball and trick shot it with a little more spin around the recovering Mineta, but his partner managed to dive for the ball and prevent the score.

Yuki recovered quickly and took the reins of the frontlines from his partner to engage in another back-and-forth fight with the pink-haired girl. The two were both huffing and puffing with exhaustion after breaking the multi-minute long loop of exchanging volleys. Mineta reflected the ball once more over the net and out of the tired Mina's reach, so Izuku, seeing Yuki's weakened state, took his advantage from the baseline and smashed the ball with a forehand swing. It flew down the centre service line past the brunette perv and the raven-haired player tried to scramble for the yellow bullet, but he was simply too slow to reach it.

The crowd erupted with cheering as the winning score bounced past the baseline on Team Pervs' side. "Fifteen to forty-five! Game, set, and match goes to Team Izuku-Mina along with the Junior class fifth rank! Congratulations on your first competitive match!" Coach Mark commended them with a bright smile as he stepped down from his umpire's chair.

Izuku and Mina wearily clapped their hands together in a high-five accompanied with exhausted but joyful grins, and he thought that was as far as the interaction would go but his partner decided to pull him into a sweaty hug. The match that lasted over an hour had built up quite the smelly sweat on both of them, but regardless of that the green-haired athlete was excited to be embraced by his partner. He almost did not know what to do in the situation because he was so ecstatic so he just reciprocated the squeeze.

They separated just in time to see Mineta's tantrum go down on the other side of the net. "That's it! I'm fucking tired of losing again and again, especially to women! This is pathetic and unacceptable!" the shorter perv raged at his partner.

Yuki would have been fine in graciously accepting their defeat and promising to return one day to reclaim their honour, but he hung his head in shame over his partner's childish outburst. "If you spent more time training and working on our teamwork rather than harassing women then we could be doing better than this, you foolish bastard," he scolded with a furious grimace.

"Fuck this!" Mineta cursed before storming off the court and towards the entrance of the Junior training courts.

Yuki sighed deeply, then turned to his former opponents with a weak smile, "I apologise for my insolent partner, though this probably spells the end of our partnership. Oh well, I guess I'll find my glory as a singles player." He then bowed deeply to the two victors, "I thank you for a good match and all that I learned from you two. I wish you the best of luck in climbing the doubles bracket, but if you try out the singles I'll crush you like nothing else!" he challenged them before leaving the court to collect his equipment.

The crowd had dispersed back to their training with the exception of Ochako who rushed up to the two victors. "That was an awesome match, guys! Though it was expected that you would win. Good job on beating Team Perv out of the ranks!" she gave them two thumbs up.

"Thanks, Ochako. Glad we could put on a good show for you," he nodded with a grin.

"A good show indeed," Coach Mark approached the group from his seat. "Your match was recorded on video and will be sent to the administration to be reviewed for any cheating and will be filed in all of your records. You can view it and all your official matches again for further training if you need to." He shook both of their hands and congratulated them once more for earning the fifth rank. "I look forward to seeing all your future matches and your advancement. Now I recommend that y'all go get cleaned up and rest for the remainder of the day."

"We'll be sur to do that, coach," Mina spoke for the both of them.

"You should be getting ready for your match later, Uraraka. Best of luck!" he instructed before moving over to a group of students waiting for instructions.

"You and Bakugo ready for the second rank match?" Izuku inquired his friend. She was one that normally kept her struggles to herself, but he thought he could get an honest answer in the wake of the coach's instructions.

"We should be fine if Bakugo can keep his anger in check," she replied shyly with a blush, focusing her attention on her feet. Izuku and Mina glanced at each other knowingly, she was always like this with the mention of the wild, blond-haired man.

"Don't worry, Ochako, we'll both be there to cheer you on after we get some R&R. right, Deku?" Mina grinned

"For sure, you were here for us so we will be there for you," Izuku agreed with an adamant nod.

"Thanks, guys. Now go get cleaned, you stink!" she mocked by pinching her nose and shooing them away.

With tired laughter and a wave goodbye to their friend, the two partners collected their gear and started down the path back towards the dorm building. They made small talk along the way and poked fun at the absent perverts to ease the awkward tension now that they were alone. To no surprise, the main roads on campus were mostly empty of students and faculty given the current time.

When they made it to the dorms, they parted ways to their own floors so they could take showers to clean away the grime and sweat caked on their bodies. In the shower, Izuku thought back on all that had happened that day and when Mina crossed his mind quickly found his conscience wandering to lustful thoughts about his partner along with a swelling urge. He quickly tried to shake the thoughts and switched to a cold shower to cool himself off, he shouldn't be think such things but the feeling that they left weighed heavily on his heart.

~Power Tour~

The next floor up, Mina found herself dwelling on similar thoughts as she showered, but she eagerly indulged her carnal desires to pleasure herself. [I've fallen so hard for him,] she thought as her mind still lingered on her partner and weak moans escaped from her slightly trembling body into the empty shower room. She knew what she wanted but was still hesitant on acting on it due to her fear of the repercussions that still gripped her.

Finishing her shower, she then made her way back to her room to get dressed with a heavy heart of desire before heading down a floor to Izuku's room. Her double tap knock on the door was quickly answered by her partner, cleaned up with still wet hair, a clean pair of basketball shorts and a white t-shirt. "Hey, come on in, Mina," his warm smile greeted her and filled her stomach with butterflies. "The Stoll twins smuggled in some mochi the other day for me, do you want some?"

The prospect of getting contraband sweets in a place where meal menus and vending machines were focused on health and energy replenishment set her eyes afire with a different look of desire. Her mouth started watering as she saw her partner take the box out of his mini-fridge, inferring her answer from her expression. "You know the Stoll brothers charge high prices, and you're willing to share something so precious with me!"

"Well of course, you don't need to be surprised, I share the sodas my mom mails in with you. Hell, my fridge is practically yours as well already," Izuku laughed at her cute expression, snapping her out of her fixation and replaced it with a blush. "Park a seat, we still have a while until Uraraka's match."

They both sat pretty close to each other on the floor leaning up against his bed as they slowly snacked on the treats. Both wanted to act more on their situation but could either overcome their fear of rejection? Izuku, despite all the changes he had gone through was still that awkward boy who did not know how to share his feelings with a girl he love. Mina still felt like she was an oddball that no-one could really love in the passionate way that she craved.

"So," Izuku broke the silence despite how comfortable he was there, almost cuddling with his partner, "Today's the last day for prestige matches on this week's scoreboard and most people are going to be busy getting the last few matches in…" he tapered off.

"I swear to God if you ask to go try for a few matches as well, I'm going to leave and take all your mochi," she threatened with a playful glare.

"Please don't leave me," he mumbled somewhat seriously, but it still caught her off-guard. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go down to the arcade after Ochako's match. I heard that you really liked playing DDR and with most people being busy we can probably get a lot of time there without interruption."

Mina quickly changed to her excited gleam at the invitation to do one of her favourite hobbies with guy she liked. "You really know how to win this girl's heart! Well in that case, I'll give you a kiss instead and call it a date," she squealed in joy before jumping the young man with a hug and planted a peck on his lips like she promised. The sensation left his brain fried and landed him in a feeling that he could only describe to be heaven.

"An actual kiss!" he babbled in his fried and blushing state.

"Oh, Deku, you're such an innocent boy," Mina remarked through her flushing cheeks. [I guess he hasn't really become a man. Maybe I can change that someday,] she though wishfully.

 **A/N: So how did you like it? Too boring? Too long? Too complicated? Sorry for the bad grammar, I may be a university student but English is my worst subject. Still don't know how I got A's on all those papers or passed the classes. Anyway, I absolutely adore Mina and she is best girl and wifu, f*ck you fight me [Yes I just ripped off Mother's Basement for that XD]. alright calm down, no harm intended because every best girl and wifu matters. This story is not dead and will continue on, I swear it! To be honest, most of the Junior class ranking matches don't matter because they were too easy and kinda pointless in the game other than to introduce game mechanics and the different player styles, so I will be skipping all of them except the important one [hint hint nudge nudge]. Senior class is where it gets interesting because that's when power shots will be introduced. Not to mention the growing relationship between Mina and Deku [if I haven't made it clear enough, this is a MinaDeku story], their friendships, rivalries, and increasing competition. let me know how you like this story. Before anyone asks, yes, Yuki Kaji is a character from another anime though under a different name, and he will still appear throughout the story. Points to whomever can guess who he is, where he's from, and why I gave him that name. [Story is now on AO3]**

 **Please leave reviews and comments, they really help improve story quality.**

 **Submit your OCs if you want them featured in the story, they can range from bystanders to side characters to opposing tennis players.**

 **Follow/favourite/subscribe/bookmark/review to show how you like this story!**

 **Until next time,**

 **~Grandmaster Robin~**


End file.
